Subscribe to Email Updates

Shortly after she and her husband, Andy, moved to Oldfield five years ago, Laura Beall was diagnosed with breast cancer. Devastating as that was, the couple quickly discovered they had landed in a community that was second to none — with a community hospital to match. In fact, Beall needed only to “turn right” out of the Oldfield entrance to reach Beaufort Memorial and leading treatments that helped her become cancer-free.

Whether you’re on a boat, at the beach or just hanging out in the sun, it doesn’t take long for your skin to burn if you’re not properly protected.

“One blistering sunburn in childhood or adolescence more than doubles a person’s chance of developing melanoma in his or her lifetime,” says Vickie Reynolds, a nurse practitioner at Beaufort Memorial Harrison Peeples Health Care Center in Hampton County. “Still, a Skin Cancer Foundation poll found 52 percent of respondents admitted getting sunburned at least once a year.”

With so many people being diagnosed with cancers every day, it’s natural that you’d want to avoid known causes. But the cancer-causes rumor mill has worked overtime for some years. The question is: Are you worrying about the right things?

You’ve probably heard that cellphones can cause cancer — as can computers, artificial sweeteners and even microwaves. It may seem like cancer risks are everywhere, but much of what is rumored to cause cancer doesn’t.

In the first six years Carole Kiessling lived on Lady’s Island, she must have driven past the Beaufort Memorial Keyserling Cancer Center in Port Royal 100 times, barely noticing the brick and stucco building on the corner of Ribaut Road and North Paris Avenue. But in the spring of 2015, when the 74-year-old was diagnosed with uterine cancer, she couldn’t have been more grateful the Keyserling Cancer Center was there, less than 15 minutes from her home.